Inflatable bag



Oct. 30, 1962 R. s. KNAPP INFLATABLE BAG Filed June 25, 1958 IN V EN TOR. Fag en c5. 02 app l k "V If .1: V

Isaam United States Patent Monarch Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 23, 1958, Ser. No. 743,737 ll Claim. ((11. 222-) This invention relates to an inflatable bag and more particularly to one which may be considered self-inflatable by reason of having a Sparklet bulb therein which, when pierced, releases gas that expands inside the bag and inflates it.

One object of the invention is to provide an inflatable bag such as a life preserver, cushion, pillow or the like, the bag being suitably shaped for its intended purpose and being formed preferably of light though serviceable, flexible plastic material so that it may be economically utilized as a throw-away item. As such it is suitable as a cushion to be used in ball and other amusement parks and at similar outdoor events, being cheap enough to throw away after it has been used once.

Another object is to provide a compressed gas bulb enclosed in a bag and having associated therewith means for puncturing the bulb for the release of the gas therefrom to the bag while the bulb and the puncturing means remain in the bag before, during, and after puncturing, thus eliminating the necessity of a leak-proof connection between the two and contributing to the throw-away possibility of an inflatable bag.

A further object is to provide the combination of an inflatable bag with a Sparklet bulb enclosed therein, loosely or otherwise, and incorporating an auxiliary cap on the bulb including a relatively simple and inexpensive puncturing means for the bulb operable through the wall of the inflatable bag.

Still a further object is to provide the auxiliary cap and puncturing means of such construction and so coacting with the bulb as to permit puncturing the bulb so that the bag can be quickly inflated to form a pillow, life preserver, or the like and so constructed as to prevent the piercing device from coming oif the bulb before the bulb is pierced. During gas discharge from the bulb the jet action of the discharging gas tends to remove the piercing device from the bulb and the construction may be such as to prevent this also.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my inflatable bag, whereby the objects above contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in detail on the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bulb enclosed in an inflatable bag, the bag being wrapped around the bulb so that the resulting package is very little larger than the bulb itself for convenience of carrying as in the pocket of the user;

FIG. 2. is a perspective view of the device of FIG. 1 inflated by means of discharge of gas from the bulb therein, a portion of the bag being broken away to illustrate the bulb and the bag being illustrated as a water wing' type of life preserver;

FIG. 3 is a view of the combined bag and bulb of FIG. 1 being operated for piercing the bulb to inflate the bag to the position shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side elevation of the bulb and a sectional view of an auxiliary cap and bulb piercing means mounted on the bulb;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view through the auxiliary cap and bulb as taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to a portion of FIG. 4 show- 3,651,148 PatentedOct. 30, 1962 ing the assembly of the auxiliary cap to the bulb after the bulb has been charged and sealed and before it is sealed in the inflatable bag;

FIG. 7 is a similar sectional view showing the piercing operation in detail; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the auxiliary cap for the bulb.

On the accompanying drawing I have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate an inflatable envelope or bag which may be suitably shaped to form a cushion, pillow, life preserver or the like, a water wing type of life preserver being illustrated in FIG. 2. Within the bag 10 is a Sparklet bulb B which has been pierced for the discharge of the compressed gas therefrom into the bag so that the bag is inflated as illustrated in this figure.

Prior to inflating the bag it is preferably wrapped tightly around the bulb B as shown in FIG. 1, thereby forming a relatively small package not much larger than the bulb itself and capable of being conveniently carried in the pocket of the user.

Referring to FIG. 4 for constructional details, it will be seen that the bulb B has a closure cap 13 and this is preferably of the type shown in Kochner Patent No. 2,685,383 having a flange 12 welded to the upper end of the neck 15 of the bulb'after the bulb has been charged with compressed gas. Preferably the flange 12 is of larger diameter than the neck 15 of the bulb B to form a shoulder as illustrated, the purpose of which will hereinafter appear.

An auxiliary cap C is provided which may be formed of resilient plastic material with a cavity 14 therein and an inturned flange 16 bevelled as illustrated so that after the bulb B is charged with gas and the cap 13 is welded thereto, the auxiliary cap C may be assembled to the bulb by merely pushing it onto the neck 15 of the bulb as shown in FIG. 6. It will be noted that the inturned flange 16 is expanded in this position to slip over the flange 12 of the cap 13 to assume the final position shown in FIG. 4 under the flange to retain the auxiliary cap C on the bulb B.

Piercing means is provided in the form of a piercing pin 18 having a head 20, the pin extending through a perforation 19 in the auxiliary cap C to a position adjacent the bulb cap 13 which at this point is relatively thin to permit puncturing thereof upon movement of the pin 18 toward the bulb. The pin 18 and its head 20 may comprise an ordinary thumb tack which is relatively inexpensive. The auxiliary cap C has a vent 22 therein for the escape of the gas released from the bulb after the bulb is pierced.

When it is desirable to inflate the bag 10, the assembly shown in FIG. 1 is placed with the bottom end of the bulb down against some supporting surface such as indicated at 24 in FIG. 3, and the user strikes the head 20 of the piercing pin 18 through the bag 10 with the heel of his hand indicated at 26 thereby causing downward movement of the piercing pin 18 as indicated by the arrow 28 and puncturing the cap 13 for release of the gas. In FIG. 7 the piercing action is shown and the auxiliary cap C, it will be noted, merely slides down the neck 15 of the bulb.

After the piercing operation the gas escaping from the pierced hole will blow the auxiliary cap C back to the position of FIG. 4 but the inturned flange 16 coacting with the flange 12 of the cap 13 will prevent the auxiliary cap from being blown off the bulb. The gas, of course, escapes from the cavity 14 through the vent 22. Thus, the inturned flange 16 cooperating with the flange 12 of the cap 13 prevents the piercing device from coming off the bulb both before the bulb is pierced and during the discharge of gas therefrom which would otherwise remove the piercing device from the bulb, thus resulting in two loose members within the bag instead of a single one. In some instances, however, this would not be objectionable in which case the vent 2-2 could be omitted and/ or the flange 12 could be made somewhat smaller in diameter and no larger than the neck 15 if some other means is provided to hold the cap C to the bulb 13 while the assembly is in package form as in FIG. 1.

An inflatable bag of the character disclosed is relatively inexpensive and therefore expendable, thus providing a simple compact cushion to be readily carried to the point of use yet eliminating the necessity of carrying it home again in inflated condition. The bulb B may be loose inside the bag 10 so that the Whole device may be folded up into a very small parcel, or may be secured at some point inside the bag so as not to roll to some undesirable position therein.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my inflatable bag without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention. It is, therefore, my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may reasonably be included within their scope.

I claim:

In a compressed gas inflating device of the type adapted for total enclosure within a flexible inflatable appliance through which the inflating device may be selectively manipulated, the improvement in said inflating device comprising in combination: an elongated compressed gas bulb body with a piereeable closure cap at one end, which pierceable cap also provides a peripheral flange that projects outwardly of the adjacent portion of the gas bulb body to define an annular shoulder; and a piercing cap defined by a cup-shaped body of resilient material, said cup-shaped body of resilient material defining a bottom, cylindnieal side wall extending axially from said bottom, and an inturned annular flange on said side wall spaced from said bottom, said body being dimensioned to permit of distortion thereof to aflord passing said inturned flange over said peripheral flange on the closure cap to assemble said cup-shaped body on said gas bulb body with said inturned flange engaging said shoulder, a metal piercing pin carried by the bottom of the body and extending within said body and being of a length to be located outwardly of the pierceable closure cap when the piercing cap is assembled on said gas bulb body with the inturned flange on the piercing cap engaging said shoulder on the gas bulb body, said piercing pin and body being connected so that axial movement of the pin relative to said bulb body is accompanied by movement of said body, and said assembly of the piercing cap on the gas bulb body affording selective movement of the piercing pin toward and through said pierceable closure cap while the inturned flange moves slidably along the gas bulb body, and a discharge opening through the side wall of the cup-shaped body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,202,415 Christopher et al May 28, 1940 2,343,276 Carlson Mar. 7, 1944 2,574,028 Fields et al. Nov. 6, 1951 2,580,639 Baker Jan. 1, 1952 2,585,254 Kochner Feb. 12, 1952 2,592,806 Jeffery Apr. 15, 1952 2,631,757 Alexander Mar. 17, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 73,067 Netherlands Aug. 15, 1953 364,980 Italy Nov. 19, 1938 

